Cape Leveque - So many things to see and do in one day

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Friday 23 Aug

Our day started with a lovely Broome sunrise and a tour pick up at 6.45am for a real outback adventure. Sometimes we take a picture and see in it things we had not expected. One of the very low tide sunrise photos of Roebuck Bay (Broome) shows the last remnants of several Catalina flying boats bombed in the harbour here in the second world war.

The area on this north west coast of Australia has had over 400 years of history with ships visiting these shores, as part of the trade with what is now Indonesia and Timor, both of which are close neighbours. The sailing ships used the trade winds to speed their voyage, and for some brought terror and shipwreck. The names of places here reflect that history with many places having French and Dutch names, or names of ships that charted these waters. Cape Leveque is just another one of those historical associations.

You may ask why we spent $$$$$$ to do the 14 hour trip to the cape and back when we could have driven up there and camped overnight? The answer is the first 86ks. While the road is not 4WD exclusively, I have a little more respect for my MH than shake it unnecessarily. It doesn't take much to go wrong to exceed $$$$$ on any Mercedes product, so we opted for a tour in a Toyota Land Cruiser (troupie) bus. Now this vehicle has done 646,000ks already and running well, probably good for another 600,000ks.

The initial road is rutted severely, and has sand drifts in places at the moment, just for a touch of variety. There was a constant clatter from the suspension that drowned any engine and transmission noise. I was concerned that Marg's damaged spine might suffer, but we are grateful that the actual ride was OK and no damage done.

One of the key things from our bucket list was to visit the Church of the Sacred Heart at Beagle Bay. (Named after the survey ship The Beagle). The Catholic Mission here started in the mid 1800s, and the church was built with wood and thatch from the local area. Unfortunately, what the termites didn't eat got blown away in cyclones. However, the mission continued and had a major role in caring for children now referred to as the stolen generation.

Different Catholic orders ran the mission over the years, and at the time of WW1, a group of German Monks were running the mission. They were placed under house arrest at Beagle Bay after haggling with the Govt of the day and the local aboriginal leaders, and during this time they built the Church of the Sacred Heart as we see it today. The mud bricks were made from local clay, and the timbers from local trees, but not those that termites like. The unique feature of this church is the amount of Mother of Pearl used to decorate the altars and included in the artwork giving a very beautiful shimmer. The mother of pearl was collected on the beaches of the cape.

There is a school alongside the church, and a quite tidy community in tidy homes here at Beagle Bay. The children came selling some bits and pieces for school fund raising, but at the same time seemed very shy.

After a quick morning tea, we headed north on a very good sealed road to our next stop, Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. This was a little over an hour north through wooded lands and the remnants of a bushfire that closed the road a couple of days back.

The pearl farm was well worth the visit. Pearl farming has happened here for many years, but in 1960 Cygnet Bay started and has developed its own method of seeding the oyster to get the pearls. This is now a world class business, and they were in harvest at the time of our visit. Their staff explain the different colours in the pearl, the styles or types of pearls and their relative values. In nature, about 1 in 5000 oysters will have a real, but with this business, only a few oysters will not produce a pearl. Marg held up a $5000 necklace but didn't feel the colour (yellow Pearls) quite suited her complexion nor my credit card. (Phew) They recently harvested a 22mm A grade round white pearl. A world record and valued at $1.2million.



The pearl farm also has a really good restaurant, and part of our trip was a really good open chicken salad followed by fresh fruit and muffins and macadamia nut & choc biscuits. YUM

Next stop was a hatchery. Well, it used to be, and hopefully will return to that role. Mean time there is some fish breeding plus a reef appreciation with live clams, corals etc in the tanks, and Nemo fish. Then David saw two really good fat barramundi! He instantly went into 'I must get one of these' mode and looked to see if he could entice one to jump from the tank and into his pocket.

There are a number of unique things on the cape, and one is Australia's second highest tidal movement. On our day here, it was a 9.1 meter high tide, and across the bay and a little nort it tops 10 meters. (If I recall Nova Scocia has the world record, around 12 meters) When we arrived at the hatchery, the tide was rising and rushing swiftly past the point. Half an hour later it was rushing the other way just as enthusiastically.

Next stop was the eastern beach at Cape Leveque, a lovely sweeping beach of white sand, clear warm water, and lots of shells for the fossickers. I went for a walk and collected some shells for Marg - she likes them in our bathroom at home.

Then across to the western beach for a quick photo opportunity. This side of the cape has very red rock which glows in the afternoon sun, and is well contrasted against the clear blue sky.

Time for afternoon tea and we left the cape at 5:35pm and arrived back at Roebuck Bay at 9:00pm. If the daylight drive was interesting, the night one more so as the driver had much more difficulty is picking a comfortable line to drive.

A good day? All four voted a big YES. Wise not to take our own vehicles? YES$$$$$.

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Photos

Sunrise, Broome
Roebuck Bay

Tracks to the horizon
Cape Leveque east beach

Early morning low tide
Visitors (via hovercraft) inspect the remnants of the Sunderland flying boats.

The rutted Road
Which side do you drive on? The best bit you can find.

Local corella
Beagle Bay

Only at a Pearl Farm
Mother of pearl door handles!

Oyster cleaning Boat
The frames of oysters are cleaned monthly to remove barnacles or anything else which would harm the oyster.

Half Pearls
Once valuable, now worthless.

Rippling current
One Arm Point

Comments

[Mum & Dad]

A big day
Interesting but long day you pay to come home tired out! Good photos but the road looked pretty bumpy.

[Carol Appleton]

Hello - haven't sent an email for a while
Hi there - have been enjoying your writings and photos. You are in an area that I remember well - brings back memories. I trust you are both keeping well and no heart problems Rob? We hope to get away around the middle of September. Love to you both from John and myself Carol xx

[MargAndRob]

Travel
Hi Carol and John, Health has generally been good since leaving Perth. We have gone from winter to humid summer very quickly. We may find Bris cool when we get home in Nov. Where are you headed in September? Love from us both.